As far as the cooling system of the third stage of Chernobyl nuclear power plant is concerned. Since according to natural circumstances it was not possible to increase the cooling pond area, a decision was made to use a combined cooling method including cooling towers. They should serve as an intermediate cooling stage. How exactly? The water was taken from the inlet channel of the cooling pond, passed through the nuclear power plant, where it was heated, then by the pipelines were fed to the cooling tower. After being cooled there, through the outlet channel, the water was discharged to the cooling pond.

Under these conditions, the two cooling towers, built next to the fifth and sixth power units Chernobyl NPPs, compensated for the impossibility of increasing the cooling ponds area, thus preventing overheating of water in them. Under a similar scheme, a significant number of operating NPPs are cooled, as well as industrial enterprises. The advantage of cooling tower is that it requires much less space than a cooling water reservoir.